Transmission operating mechanism



Aug. 30, 1949. A. E. WILSON Er AL 2,480,801

TRANSMISSION OPERATING MECHANISM Original Filed Sept. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 In; IWII 66 5.?

ATTO/P/VEY Aug. 30, 1949. A. E. WILSON El AL 2,480,301

TRANSMISSION OPERATING MECHANISM Original Filed Sept. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. HfA/IP) D- #W/F/ZL Patented Aug. 30, 1949 STATES PATENT OFFICE TRANSMISSION OPERATING MECHANISM Albert E. Wilson, Cleveland; Ohio, and Henry D. Hukill, South Bend, Ind., assignors to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a. corporation of Delaware Original application September 11, 1944, Serial No. 553,524. Divided and this application tober 2c, 1945, Serial No. 624,656

other words, it is an object of our invention to' provide power means for operating the twospeed axle mechanism of the day.

Yet another object of our invention is to provide power means for operating a two-speed axle said power means being controlled by an operation of the accelerator and an operation of a manually operated selector valve.

A further object of our invention is to provide power means for operating a change-speed transmission, such as the selective gear transmissionlocated immediately to the rear of the clutch mechanism or a two-speed axle mechanism, said power means including a sprin and vacuum operated double-acting motor the operation of which is controlled by theoperation of a manually operated four-way or double three-way selector valve and the operation of the accelerator of the vehicle in its control of the speed of the engine and the degree of gaseous pressure within the intake manifold of said engine.

An important object of our invention is to provide, in a power plant of an automotive vehicle, power means for moving, to one or the other of two positions, a gear shifting member of a changespeed transmission mechanism said power means including a motor the power element of which is connected to said gear shifting member by force transmitting means, including a yieldable means, having three distinct stages of operation, said power means being controlled by (1) the operation of a manually operated four-way or double three-way selector valve (2) the operation of the acclerator of the vehicle in its control of the speed of the engine, the degree of gaseous pressure within the intake manifold of the engine and its control of a switch constituting a part of means for momentarily disabling the ignition system of the engine, and (3) an ignition inter-- rupter switch actuated'by means connected with the power element of the motor. v

In brief, the most important object of our invention is to provide power means for effecting, in three stages, one or the other of two operations of the transmission of an automotive vehicle the second stage of said operation being facilitated by momentarily disabling the ignition system of said vehicle; and the latter feature is disclosed in our application Serial No. 553,524, filed September 11, 1944 the instant application being a division thereof.

Yet another object of our invention is to provide, in the power plant of an automotive vehicle, power means for moving to one or the other of two positions a gear shifting member of a changespeed transmission of the vehicle said power means including a motor the power element of which is connected to said gear shifting member by force transmitting means having three distinct stages of operation and including yieldable means, said power means being controlled by (1) the operation of a manually operated four-way selector valve and (2) the operation of the accelerator of the vehicle in its control of the throttle valve of the engine of the vehicle.

One of the features of our invention is to provide a double-acting pressure differential operated motor for establishing a change-speed transmission in one or the other of two settings said motor being connected with said transmission by means including a double-acting yieldable means which is energized, that is cocked, during the first half of the gear shifting movement of the power element of said motor said yieldable means being then operative, after said power element has com-'- pleted its gear shifting movement to neutralize the transmission, to establish the transmission in gear.

Yet another object of our invention is to provide power means for operating the two-speed axle of an automotive vehicle said power means including a double-acting vacuum motor comprising a casing member detachably secured to the casing of the two-speed axle and further comprising a power element operably connected to a shift fork or equivalent element of the axle mechanism. The force transmitting means interconnecting the shift fork and power element includes a double-acting yieldable means which is of such a strength that the same is cocked, that is the yieldable means is made a source of potential energy, when the vacuum motor is energized to effect an operation of the axle mechanism, said operation being effected prior to the neutralization of the axle mechanism which is effected during the last part of the movement of the power element of said motor, the cocked yieldable means then functioning, after the gears of the axle mechanism to be meshed are brought to synchronous speeds by controlling the speed of the engine of the vehicle, to expand thereby efiecting a new setting of the axle mechanism.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide, in an automotive vehicle including an internal combustion engine controlled in part by an accelerator operated throttle valve, power means for effecting one or the other of two settings of the change-speed transmission of said vehicle said power means including a double-acting motor the power element of which is connected to the transmission by force transmitting means operating in three distinct stages to shift the transmission from one setting to the other, the operation of the power means being controlled by an operation of the throttle valve and a manually operated or controlled selector valve.

Other objects of the invention and desirable details of construction will become apparent from the detailed description of certain embodiments of the invention described in the specification to follow and disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view disclosing the preferred embodiment of our invention serving to operate two-speed rear axle of an automotive vehicle;

Figure 2 is a sectional view disclosing the spring and pressure differential operated motor of that embodiment of our invention disclosed in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the double threeway selector valve of our invention; and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view disclosing details of the connection between the throttle and the accelerator.

Referring now to Figure 1 disclosing one em-' bodiment of our invention a rear axle, generally indicated by the reference numeral I0, is of the two-speed type and the change from one axle speed to another is effected by means of a doubleacting double-ended spring and pressure differential operated motor I2 which may be secured to the axle housing or any other suitable mounting. It is to be understood however that our invention is not necessarily limited to means for operating a two-speed axle; for the double-acting motor I2 of our invention may also be used to operate any multl-speed transmission mechanism i. e. the change gear transmission I3, to establish one or the other of two settings thereof.

The motor I2 comprises a double-ended casing I4, Figure 2, and a piston, that is, power element, I6 the latter being connected to the axle mechanism by a three stage force transmitting means which constitutes an important feature of our invention.

Referring now to Figure 2 the force transmitting means disclosed in this figure includes a rod I8 slidably mounted in an end plate 20 of the motor I2 said rod being operably connected at one of its ends to a crank, not shown, extending from the upper end of a shaft 2 I, Figure 1. This shaft is connected to the shifter fork or equivalent means within the casing of the transmission Ill said means when actuated serving to so operate the transmission as to establish the same in one or the other of its two settings. A hub portion 22 of the piston I6 is sleeved over the rod I8 and slidable thereon; and said hub 22 is operably connected to said rod by means of yieldable means of a certain strength. In that em- 4 this yieldable means consists of two springs 24 and 26 sleeved over the rod 18 said springs preferably being of equal or substantially equal strength. The spring 24, which constitutes a part of the force transmitting means interconnecting the piston I6 and transmission, is interposed between a flange portion 28 of the hub 22 and a flange 30 at the end of and fixedly secured to the rod I8. The spring 26 is interposed between a flange 32, constituting a part of the hub 22, and a sleeve member '34 said sleeve constituting in effect a portion of the rod I8. Movement of the latter member to the right, Figure 2, is revented by a stop ring 36 embedded in the rod I8. Tubular members 38 and 40, fixedly secured at their outer ends to the end plates of the motor casing, serve as stop members to limit the movement of the piston I6.

The most important features of our invention are disclosed in Figure 1 wherein the operation of the motor I2 is controlled by (1) a four-way selector valve 39 (2) the throttle operating accelerator M which in large measure controls the operation of th internal combustion engine 42 of the vehicle (3) an accelerator operated ignition controlling breaker switch 44 which is closed when the accelerator is fully depressed and (4) an ignition controlling switch 46, Figure 2, which is actuated by the rod I8.

Referring now to the four-way valve 39 disclosed in detail in Figure 3 the same comprises a hollow casing 41' provided with ports 48 and 50 connected respectively with ports 52 and 54 in the ends of the motor I2 by means of conduits 55 and .58. The casing 41 is also ported at 60 to receive a conduit 62 connected to the intake manifold 64 of the engine. A vacuum tank 65 is incorporated in this conduit and a check valve 66 is incorporated in that portion of the conduit interconnecting the tank with the manifold. This check valve insures the maintenance of the relatively low gaseous pressure within the tank when the accelerator is depressed which operation increases the gaseous pressure in the intake manifold. A spool shaped valve member 61 is slidably mounted within the casing 41. A recess 68 of said member serving to interconnect the ports 60 and 48 when the valve member is moved, by a manually operated selector lever 63, to its high gear position said position of the valve member being disclosed in Figure 3. The selector lever 63 is connected by suitable means, not shown, to a rod 69 which is preferably adjustably connected to the valve member 61.

When the above described high gear setting of the valve 39 is selected by the driver then a compartment 'IU of the motor I2, outlined by the piston I6 and a part of the casing I4, is placed in air transmitting connection with the intake manifold 64 via the conduit I52, check valve 66, vacuum tank 65, valve port 60, the recess 68, port 48 and the conduit 56. At this time a compartment I2 of the motor is vented to the atmosphere via ports 14 in the valve casing 41, the interior of the valve, port 50 and the conduit 58. It follows therefore that the piston I6 is then subjected to a differential of pressures forcing the same to the left, Figure 2, to initiate the high gear operation of the spring and vacuum operated motor.

-It will be assumed, for the purposes of this description, that this high gear setting of the valve 39 is efiected after the vehicle has attained the desired speed with the transmission III established in its low gear setting. The driver will bodiment of our invention disclosed in Figure 2 then probably wish to shift the transmission Ill to the left, Figure 2. -It will be assumed that the driver at this time is maintaining the accelerator at least partially depressed to maintain the road speed of the vehicle and eflect a partial vacuum in the intake manifold. If the tank 6.5 were omitted the motor compartment 10 would be partially evacuated despite the absence of said tank however by incorporating said tank and the check valve in the conduit 62 there is insured a substantially constant source of vacuum to make possible. an energizati'on of the motor i2 whenever the valve 39 is operated and irrespective of the position of the accelerator. The aforementioned high gear operation or setting of the valve 39 is what may be termed a preselecting operation, that is, the valve is operated prior to-the hereinafter described operation of the accelerator. Now with this operation and the resultant vacuum energization of the motor 12, there results a compression of the spring 2 3 until the Same goes solid or substantially solid. In other words, the spring 24 is then said to be cocked, that is, potential energy is stored inthe same. This cocking of the spring 2% is effected inasmuch as the rod is is then held immobile due to the then existing driving load on the teeth of the low speed transmission gears. With this spring cocking operation, which may be defined as a first stage operation of the power means, the piston 16 moves to a position half way or substantially half way between the inner end of one or the other of the stops 38 and 60 there being no movement of the rod It for reasons explained above.

The driver, to complete the operation of establishing the transmission in its high gear setting, may then release the accelerator to idle the engine, that is, reverse its driving torque; and with this operation, with the resultant removal of the driving load upon the low speed gears of the transmission, there results a bottoming operation of the piston it, that is, said piston resumes its movement to the left, Figure 2, to abut the stop 38. Now with this operation the rod it, through the intermediary of the then cocked spring 24, is moved to the left to eiiect the second stage operation of the power means; and this operation effects a demeshing of the low speed gears of the transmission, the transmission being established in its neutral setting.

The third, that is, last stage of operation of the power means to establish the transmission in its high gear setting is eflected by an expanding operationof the spring 24; and this operation takes place immediately after the gears to he meshed have been synchronized. This synchronization will of course be eflected when the engine and the force transmitting means interconnecting the same with the driving gear of the high speed gears have slowed down to a speed to make possible a, meshing of said gears.

There is thus provided a pressure difierential v and spring operated power means, controlled by the accelerator and the valve 39. and operable to shift-the transmission it from a low speed setting to a high'speed setting in three distinct stages of operation.

Aiter the transmission it is established in its high gear setting the driver will then accelerator to either maintain or road speed of the vehicle as desired.

I Should the driver then wish to establish the transmission in its low gear setting say to facilitate the operation of passing a car on the road or to climb a hill he need but operate the valve-39 to establish the same in its low gear setting, and, with the control mechanism disclosed in the drawings, either release for fully depress the accelerator. When, the valve '39 is placed in its low geags'etting the compartment 12 is placed in communication withthe vacuum tank 65 and the compartment 'I'l) isv vented to the atmosphere. The piston it then moves to the' right, Figure 2, to cook, that is, render solid, the spring 26 thereby completing the first stage of the low gear operation of the transmission operating mechanism. The driver will then complete the operation of establishing the transmission in its low gear setting by either fully depressing the accelerator depress the increase the v to close the breaker switch M or by releasing the accelerator, both operations resulting in a reversal oi the-engine torque. If the accelerator is fully depressed, an operation which the driver would naturally efiect when he wishes to pass a a car on the road, then after the throttle valve it is completely opened to abut a stop It a spring it in the connection between the accelerator and throttle will collapse; and during this collapsing operation the switch 46 is closed. It follows that the spring 78 is stronger than a throttle return spring 79 the latter being connected to a throttle operating lever l i. As is disclosed in Figure i the spring 18 is sleeved over a rod 5i which is slidably received within a slot 89 in a member it. The member 73 is pivotally connected to the throttle operating lever 1i and therod 6! is pivotally connected to lever 8!. The latter is pivotally connected, by a link 83, to the accelerator ti; and as is described above the lever B! is operative to close the switch 44 when the accelerator is depressed beyond its full throttle open position. As disclosed in Figure 1 the'switch 44 is grounded and is connected by a wire 11, in series with the ignition interrupter switch 45, Figure 2, which is closed when the transmission is established in its high gear setting that is when the rod I8 is in its high gear position. When the transmission is established in its high gear setting the motor.

parts are positioned as disclosed in Figure 2.

A wire 82, leading from the switch 46, is connected to the distributor. of the conventional ignition system of the engine, all as is disclosed in Figure 1. It follows that when the switches 44 and 46 are both closed the primary winding 8| of the ignition coil 86 is grounded thereby disabling the ignition system. This disabling of the ignition system disables the engine and reverses the driving torque upon the high speed gears of the transmission; and this operation makes possible the second stage operation of the power means, that is, the bottoming movement of the piston l6 and the concurrent movement of the rod it to neutralize the transmission; The motor 52 is at this time vacuum energized to efiect this operation by virtue of the inclusion in the vacuum system of the vacuum storage tank 65; for if the tank were not incorporated in the vacuum conduit 62 the vacuum within the manifold would be destroyed when the accelerator is fully depressed. Now it is to be noted that the interruption of the ignition is only momentary to eifect this neutralizing operation of the transmission by virtue .of the fact that when the nod i8 is moved a recess 90; and this operation of the ball serves to open the switch 46.

As to the third stage of operation of the power means to effect the meshing of the low speed gears of the transmission this operation of said power means is efiected when the engine has been speeded up sufiiciently to efiect the necessary synchronization of the low speed gears. This operation is quickly effected inasmuch as it is to be remembered that the throttle is at this time wide open.

If the driver wishes to effect the low gear setting of the transmission without disabling the ignition system he need but release the accelerator and place the valve 39 in its low gear setting. The above described three stages of operation of the power means is then effected inasmuch as the reversal of the engine torque by the release of the accelerator will effect the demeshing of the high speed gears to neutralize the transmission and the subsequent depression of the accelerator to speed up the engine will effect the necessary synchronization of the low speed gears to make possible the third stage of operation of the power means.

There is thus provided a very simple yet eificient three-stage transmission-operating mechanism controlled by the accelerator and a selector valve and operating to establish one or the other of two settings of a change-speed transmission 'mechanism irrespective of where said mechanism is incorporated in the power plant of the vehicle.

An important feature of our invention lies in the construction and arrangement of the motor 12 and the force-transmitting means, particularly the yieldable means, interconnecting the power element of said motor with the transmission. This yieldable means, which is in series with the power element in said force-transmitting means, is of such a strength that its condition is changed, that is, potential energy is stored therein, when the selector valve is operated; and the strength of said yieldable means is such that this potential energy storing operation constitutes the first of three stages of operation of the aforementioned force transmitting means. With the shifter mechanism of our invention the transmission is operated quickly and quietly there being no clashing of gears; furthermore the control of the mechanism is so simple that it is submitted that the entire operation is practically fool proof.

In conclusion, it is to be stressed that the heart of our invention lies in the provision of the ignition controlling means, including the switches 44 and 46, to effect the second stage of operation of the three-stage operating shifter mechanism of our invention; and this ignition controlling means, constituting an engine torque controlling means, supplements the operation of the throttle as a torque controlling means.

We claim:

1. In a motor vehicle provided with an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, an accelerator, an engine controlling ignition system and a change-speed transmission, power means for operating the transmission and in part controlling the operation of the ignition system to facilitate a certain operation of the transmission, said power means including a fluid pressure operated motor comprising a casing and a power element housed within said casing and operably transmission, a valve for controlling the operation of said motor, manually controlled means for operating said valve, fluid transmitting means interconnecting the intake manifold, valve and motor, an ignition interrupter switch, switch and transmission operating force transmitting means interconnecting the power element and torque transmitting element of the transmission said force transmitting means, including yieldable means of a certain strength, being operable in three distinct stages, and electrical means cooperating with said ignition interrupter switch to provide a means for cutting the ignition system into or out of operation said electrical means including an accelerator operated switch; the parts of the power means being so constructed and arranged and so operative as to eifect, after a certain operation of the valve, an energization of the motor to effect a movement of the power element resulting in an operation of the yielding means, that is, the first stage of operation of the force transmitting means, to make of the yield able means a source of potential energy, the power means being then operative, when the accelerator is actuated to efiect a certain operation of the switch operated thereby, to effect the second stage operation of the force transmitting means to .neutralize the transmission, said power means being then operative, after certain gears of the transmission have been synchronized by the operation of the accelerator to speed up the engine, to effect the third stage of operation of the force transmitting means, that is, the meshing of certain gears of the transmission to establish the same in another setting.

2. In an automotive vehicle provided with an internal combustion engine, an accelerator, a change-speed transmission, force transmitting means interconnecting the engine and transmission and an ignition system for in part controlling the operation of the engine, power means for operating the transmission and in part control the operation of the ignition system to facilitate a certain operation of the transmission said power means comprising a fluid pressure motor comprising a casing and a power element, a threestage operating force transmitting means, including a yieldable means of a certain strength, interconnecting the power element and transmission, a manually controlled valve for controlling the operation of said motor, an ignition interrupter switch operated in part by a portion of said force transmitting means, other electrical means, including a grounded accelerator operated switch and a wire connected to the distributor of the ignition system, cooperating with said latter switch, said switches, when both are closed, completing a ground connection with the distributor; the parts of said power means being so constructed and arranged and so operative that the first stage operation of said force transmitting means, that is, the operation eiiecting a compression of the yieldabl means, is eiiected by the motor as a result of an operation of the control valve, the second stage operation or the force transmitting means, to efiect a. neutralization of the transmission, is efiected by a reversal of the engine torque by either releasing the accelerator or fully depressing the same to close the accelerator operated switch and the third stage operation of the force transmitting means is effected when the gears of the transmission to be meshed are synchronized said operation being eiiected by a speeding up of the engine by virtue of the opening connected to a torque transmitting element of the of the throttle when the accelerator is depressed to close the accelerator operated switch or by the other of two settings said power means com-.

prising a double-acting pressure-difierential operated motor operably connected to the transmission by force transmitting means, including yieldable means capable of being compressed by a force which is less than the force developed by the power element of saidmotor, operable in three distinct stages when the power means is opera tive to change the setting of the transmission, valve means for controlling the operation of said motor, and electrical means controlled by an operation of the accelerator and the aforementioned motor and operative to so control the operation of the ignition system as to make possible the second stage of operation of the aforementioned threestage force transmitting means.

4. In an automotive vehicle provided with a change-speed transmission, an internal-combustion engine controlled in part by a throttle valve, an ignition system, and a throttle operating accelerator; power means for operating the transmission to efiect at least two difierent settings thereof, said power means comprising a doubleacting pressure-differential operated motor, force transmitting means, operable in three distinct stages, interconnecting the power element of the motor and the transmission, valve means for controlling the operation of said motor and electrical means, including a switch operated by the motor and a switch operated by the accelerator, for controlling the operation of the ignition system; the parts of the aforementioned mechanism being so constructed and arranged and s operative that to effect a three-stage operation of the force transmitting means to effect one of the aforementioned two settings of the transmission the valve is first operated, the throttle is then closed by releasing the accelerator to thereby reverse the engine torque, and the accelerator is then depressed to speed up the engine; the parts of the aforementioned mechanism being also so constructed and arranged and so operative that to efiect a three-stage operation of the force transmitting means to'eifect the other of the aforementioned two settings of the transmission the valve is first operated and the accelerator is then depressed to close the accelerator operated switch and to speed up the engine.

5. In an automotive vehicle provided with a change-speed transmission, an accelerator and an ignition system for in part controlling the operation ofthe internal combustion engine of the vehicle; power means for operating the transmission to effect two difierent settings thereof, said power means comprising a double-acting pressure-differential operated motor, force transmitting means, operable in three distinct stages,

interconnecting the power element oi said motor and the transmission and means for controlling, the operation of said motor and force transmitting means to effect the aforementioned three stages of operation of the latter means, said control means including a manually operated fourway selector valve, a normally open grounded switch adapted to be operated by the accelerator, that is, closed when the accelerator is fully depressed, a switch mechanism constructed to be closed when the power element of the motor is in one of its gear establishing positions, andelectrical conductor means interconnecting the aforementioned two switches and the primary winding of the ignition coil of the ignition system.

6. In an'automotive vehicle provided with a change speed transmission, an accelerator and an ignition system; power means for operating the transmission to establish the same in one of the other of two settings said power means comprising a double acting pressure differential operated motor operably connected to the transmission by force transmitting means, including yieldable means capable of being compressed by a force which is less than the force developed by the power element of said motor, operable in a plurality of stages when the power means is 01:- erative to change the setting of the transmission, valve means for controlling the operation of said motor, and electrical means controlled by an operation of the accelerator and the aforementioned motor and operative to so control the operation of the ignition system as to make possible one of the stages of operation of the force transmitting means in the operation of establishing the transmission in one of the aforementioned two settings.

7. In an automotive vehicle provided with a change-speed transmission, an accelerator, and an ignition system; power means for operating the transmission to establish the same in one or the other of two settings, said power means comprising a double acting fluid pressure operating motor operably connected to the transmission by force transmitting means, including yieldable means of a certain strength, operable in a plurality of stages when the power means is operative to change the setting of the transmission,

valve means for controlling the operation of said motor, manually operated means, conveniently mounted within reach of the driver, for operating the valve, and electrical means controlled by an operation of the accelerator and the aforementioned motor and operative to so control the operation of the ignition system as to make possible one of the stages of operation of the force transmitting means in the operation of establishing th transmission in one of the aforementioned two settings.

ALBERT E. WILSON.

HENRY D. HU'KILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,225,493 Barnes Dec, 17, 1940 2,333,668 Neracher et al. Nov. 9, 1943 2,373,259 Price Apr. 10, 1945 2,398,407 Brownyer Apr. 16, 1946 

